Here, at the Bottega Zero Waste School, we obsess over student success. Every month we celebrate a new Maker with a truly inspiring story. If you are not on our mailing list make sure you subscribe here for a chance to submit your story and be featured as one of our upcoming Maker of the Month!
Today I am delighted to introduce you to Suniti, Zero Waste Haircare and Soap Making for Zero Wasters student and owner of Pure Mitti.
Switching to a non-toxic lifestyle
"While I was working wit Nat Geo, I was deeply connected to the Plastic or Planet edition where I saw the true destruction of the planet that we humans have caused in very close quarters.
That motivated me to move on to a non toxic lifestyle and I was retailing skin care products such as body soaps from disadvantaged communities in India. I retailed the non toxic chemical free soaps to supermarkets here and saw a huge response.
This made me quit my full time job and I started doing this for a living- a retailer for several small brands from disadvantaged communities in India, and retailing it in American supermarkets.
Once COVID struck, the shipments became extremely arduous and expensive. Thats when i started to get creative, and started teaching myself how to make my own skin care, hair care line of products. I met Marta and Bottega Zero Wwaste along my journey and then it was history. I launched my brand in February 2021, and its been a roaring success ever since."
Gaining the confidence to start making handmade beauty products
"When I started both zero waste skincare and haircare journey, I had already done enough research around it to clearly point out if this product truly had 100% natural ingredients or was it green washing. I used to binge-watch Marta's videos and her authenticity and purity draw me towards her courses. Finding someone truly authentic using the purest ingredients was my challenge and Marta's doors opened for me.
I found her courses to be so self-explanatory and I had a wonderful experience experimenting with her soap and hair care recipes. So simple, unique yet so rich gave out wonderful results. Her recipes gave me the confidence and power to start my own recipe making journey and that's how Pure Mitti evolved as a brand.
Today I am in many stores in NY, opened up an online Etsy store and do wholesale orders. I am so glad I met Marta and I am forever grateful to her for showing me the way I most wanted at that time".
Learn how to create your own shampoo bars from scratch
Customizing formulations
"I found getting olive oil for my soaps was getting extremely expensive. So I tried to find alternatives and moved the composition needle with the other oils.
Rice Bran Oil and even Avacado oil was used as a substitute but in this process I mastered the art of adjusting the oil measures which was satisfying".